


Voile de Malheur

by MalisonQuill



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet, Character Death, Clones, F/M, Father-Son Relationship, Feels, Fluff, Gen, Humor, M/M, Mostly the fatherly relationship between Scout and Spy, Nature Versus Nurture, Older Mercs, Rescue Missions, Respawn, Temporary Character Death, The romantic ships aren't the main focus of the story, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-03-16
Packaged: 2018-05-27 03:45:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6268279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalisonQuill/pseuds/MalisonQuill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>*Abandoned in favour of other story ideas :(  Sorry*</p><p>The situation for the downtrodden 2Fort Red team goes from bad to worse when they lose their Spy in a respawn accident. A new enigmatic Spy is sent to replace him, but the Spy’s unfamiliar (yet effective) tactics lead Scout to question who this ‘Spy’ really is, and what dark secrets he is trying to hide…</p><p>His discovery will change everything he has ever known, and throw his future down an entirely unexpected path.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Voile de Malheur

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first proper large scale story, so I apologise for any inacuracies (especially with the French, I don't speak it so all I've got is google translate and we all know how acurate that is). I've got a lot of the key ideas and a few key scenes for the story sorted out, but I'm afraid chapters may be slow to come out.  
> Translations at the end.

 

“I just can’t believe it.”

Scout sat at the Red base’s dining room table, his elbows rested on his knees as he frustratingly pushed his hands into his flushed face.

“How the hell did this even happen?!” He looked across the table at the two men sitting before him. The Medic looked away from younger man’s accusing gaze, unable to give him an answer. The Engineer sat beside his like-minded German colleague. Like the Texan gentleman he often was, the engineer respectfully understood the Scout’s grief and allowed him to have his juvenile outburst. The Texan removed his yellow hard hat and held it humbly over his heart.

“Well… it’s difficult to say.” Engineer sighed and glanced to towards the Medic.

“We think there was some kind of glitch in his memory chip.” Scout scowled in confusion, whether it had been from the shock of the news or something else, his mind had gone blank.

“You-ah, mind reminding me what that is again?” Medic merely sighed exasperatingly in response, muttering a curse in German under his breath.

“I have told you zhis one thousand times Scout, nearly every time you come into mein office. Ve all have a small chip in our heads zhat records our memories until ve die. Zhen, venn ve respawn into a new body ve retain all of our experiences, our consciousness, through zhe chip.” Scout huffed as he leaned back into his seat and folded his arms. Being reminded of something that he did, in fact, already know was always irritating. Even if it was his own fault for forgetting in the first place.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now I remember. So what went wrong?”

The Engineer anxiously rubbed the back of his neck.

“We still gotta look into it some more, but we think something damaged his chip when he first spawned in at the start of the round. When he got killed and tried to respawn his memories where just… gone. He got a new body but there was nobody home.”  

Scout let out a soft sigh as he stared down at the floor.

“So… he’s really gone? For good?”

In a toneless, clinical voice Medic replied.

“Ja. It vas too late venn Sniper found him. Ve could not retrieve his memories… Ve have no vay of getting him back…”

Scout’s face burned red, his head once again fell into his hands as slow streams of tears ran down his cheeks. He snorted loudly as he sniffled back his snot, and let out a quiet chuckle.

“I hated him. He was such a pouncey dick. But he didn’t deserve to die… not for good!” Scout’s voice broke as he spoke. He partially unrolled his sleeve and hastily wiped his nose on it.

 

“I just can’t believe Spy’s really dead.”

 

\-----------------------------------

3 Days later - 2Fort - Red Domestic Quarters

 

The Red team had barely had enough time to even register their Spy’s demise before the Administrator told them they would be getting a replacement. Scout walked along the seemingly desolate corridors of the base in isolation, dragging his hand along the worn wooden walls of the poorly maintained building. He was deep in thought, trying his best to make some sense of the past few day’s events.

He had hated his arrogant teammate more than anyone else; they had been bitter rivals from the very start of their careers. Both men had kept a score of how many times they had each captured the enemies’ intelligence. Their final score was 618 to 614 with Spy in the lead. Scout chuckled bitterly at the thought as he imagined a sly grin on the Spy’s face. His rival may have been gone but, as much as the Scout hated to admit it, a small part of him was happy that the Spy had at least gotten a small piece of victory in death.

 

“Bit odd don’t ya think?”

 

Scout looked up in surprise and snapped out of his thoughts. There were two doorways opposite each other at the end of the hall. One room, which was barely used, belonged to the team’s Sniper. The other had been Spy’s room. It had suited the Spy well; it was quiet, and far away the noisier mercenaries.

The tall Australian stood in his doorway and leant against the frame. Medic mirrored him, leaning against the corridor wall adjacent to the door. The two reclusive men often chatted with one another and, despite the fact that neither would _ever_ admit it, they both relished in any scrap of gossip they could find. So it was of little surprise to the Scout to catch the two of them trying to sneak a peek at their new teammate’s possessions, and discover what they could about the new Spy before he arrived.

“I’d have thought this new Spy would have had a lot more things…" Sniper said gruffly, turning away from the Spy’s room towards his German friend “This just doesn’t seem like enough to me.”

“Perhaps he ist just not very materialistic?” Medic pondered. Sniper thought for a moment before he chuckled and gently tapped Medic on his arm.

“Heh, or maybe he’s really protective of his stuff. We’ll probably end up havin ta help him bring it all to his room when he gets here.”

Scout scratched the back of his head and looked towards them awkwardly. He stood to his full height and coughed quietly, trying to make his presence known to his two teammates. Medic sniggered, and adjusted his spectacles as he turned towards the young man. Sniper however, remained focused on his quarry, watching as faceless men moved curious little boxes in and out of the room. The Doctor smiled sheepishly and gestured Scout to come towards them. He trotted over and stood beside them, hooking his thumbs into his oversized pockets.

“Come to watch the show mate?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess. Well… to be honest I was walkin around. Ya know, thinkin ‘bout stuff. Have they… have they taken all his stuff yet?”

Sniper scratched his chin, and continued to look at movers as they went in and out of the room.

“I think so. Haven’t see any boxes come out of there for a while, mostly just things going in. Heh, Medic and I saw them take in this weird lookin statue earlier. It was of some armless naked girl. Looked a bit worn though, its face was all eroded and full of holes.”

Medic snorted and tried to hold back a laugh.

“Oh ja. Und it had zhat look on its face remember? Zhe cross-eyes?”

Sniper spurted into a small fit of giggles, with Medic following him. Scout just looked at the two in wonder. They were crazy.

When the two finally stopped there was a long period of awkward silence. No one had come in or out of the room for a while, so there was little to comment on. Sniper shifted where he stood and kicked at the floor, he never did like these kinds of social situations, and tried to think of something to break the silence.

 

“Ya know… when Miss Pauling was here the other day I overheard her talking on that radio-phone thing of hers.” Scout looked up at him instantly. One trick the team had figured out was that to get Scout’s attention (or at least shut him up a few seconds) all they had to do was mention Miss Pauling.

“Apparently we aren’t just getting another dime-a-dozen Spy like-”

Sniper paused, he noticed Scout staring at him intently with a dark look in his eyes.

“uhh -the one on Blu. Anyway, according to her, this Spy is supposed to be one of, if not _the_ best Spys there is.”

“Pfft. ‘Zhe best’ she says. Und vhy exactly vould _ve_ of all teams be getting such a good Spy? ”

Silence fell over the small group. They were all thinking the same thing, they knew the only reason why the administrator would send them a ringer was that she must have thought that they weren’t good enough. For a bitter sweet moment of silence they shared a feeling of dread and self-doubt, thinking of all the times they each could have done better, of every ‘if only’ that lingered in their minds. Scout then returned to the one thought that hadn’t stopped reoccurring since he heard of their Spy’s death: _‘If only I’d been there. What could I have done?’_

 

“Ah, Shit!”

Suddenly Scout spluttered, and burst out laughing at one of the moving men. He had somehow tripped over himself and fallen on his butt, covered in a mountain of old books that had been in the cardboard box he was carrying. Medic and Sniper snorted, trying to hold back fits of giggles in an attempt to preserve some of the poor man’s dignity.

_“A-a-choo!”_

In an instant Scout stopped laughing.

 _“A-a-choo! A-a-choo! A-a-choo!”_ The man then began to let out a very long series of small kitten-like sneezes, evidently aggravated by the heaps of dust released from the books.

The 3 mercenaries turned to face one-another calmly… before all 3 of them erupted into raucous laughter.

 

This was just what they needed.

 

\-----------------------------------

2Fort – Red Base Exterior - Service Entrance

 

With a harsh splutter from its exhaust, a ‘Red Bread’ van came to stop in front of the 8 patient men. They stood in a line in front of the mesh fencing, with all but Scout curiously trying to peer into the grey tinted windows of the van. As its engine powered down Scout crossed his arms and huffed. He looked over his teammates and frowned.

 _‘Why is everyone so excited to meet this new spy? Did they even care about our old one?’_ he wondered.

The left side window squeaked loudly as it opened sluggishly. The driver popped their head out of the window and squinted at the mercs, the sun momentarily blinding their vision. The driver was a young woman in a purple dress with shoulder length brunette hair that she’d haphazardly tied into a bun. She smiled at the men and waved enthusiastically at them.

“Hi guys!” Scout relaxed for a moment and beamed, waving back at her with the other mercenaries.

“H-hey Miss Pauling!” His face was as red as his shirt; he completely looked the part of love-struck dork (which he absolutely was). It wasn’t his fault though, he just couldn’t help himself, he’d been absolutely smitten with her since the first moment he’d laid eyes on her. To him she was divine. The way she wore her glasses just a little bit crooked was the cutest thing in the world to him. He had preferred the way she looked with jet black hair but hey, if she wanted to dye it brown that was her choice, and it’s not like he was going to complain anyway.

All of a sudden the passenger door clicked, and slowly began to open. A man emerged from the van, clad from head to toe in a pale red suit. His face was obscured by the signature dark balaclava shared by all spies, the opening around his mouth revealed a thin layer of well-kept stubble. As he closed the door, he tightly held onto the shoulder strap of his tattered red and white duffel bag. He turned towards the group of quizzical men and straightened his back to stand at his full height. He quickly glanced over each of the men, studying them intently and taking in every detail he could about them. He looked indifferently along the line until his eyes reached the Scout.

He paused.

He raised an eyebrow as he studied the boy, looking over him for only a second or two longer than the others. Scout looked away and squirmed under the older man’s gaze, causing him to smirk in response.

The Spy turned on his heels and walked in front of the van, he waved to Miss Pauling with a small, feigned smile on his face. “Merci, ma chère!” She smiled at him, and then turned to face the rest of the mercs. “Have fun with him you guys!” She gave them a final wave before she sat back in the driver’s seat and closed the window. The team watched her drive away before turning their attention back to the new Spy.

This man certainly looked like a Spy, he was smartly dressed with an appropriate condescending attitude and a smug, superior smile. But there was… something else about him. Something that puzzled the Scout. There was an air about this man that was different to any other Spy the Scout had seen before, but that was somehow eerily familiar to him.

 

The Spy smiled at his new team and theatrically bowed before them.

“Bonjour gentlemen. It is both a pleasure to meet you, and join your merveilleuse team. And, my utmost condolences for your loss. It is always sad to lose one of my fellow camarades.”

The Sniper was unimpressed by the Spy’s spectacle, he crossed his arms and huffed. “So, the higher-ups say you’re one of the best Spies there is?” Spy straightened his stance and walked closer to the other mercs.

“You flatter me monsieur. I merely strive to achieve my very best, and to bring out the very best in those around me. Which is exactly what I shall do for you.” The team looked to one another, all of them were somewhat confused.

“I am aware that your team has… not been on best form lately. That is why the Administrator has sent me as your replacement Spy. I shall assist you in every way I can, and I _will_ make sure you get your revenge on our _dear_ Blu friends for every last time they have had the nerve to defeat you.” The Spy lit a cigarette I took a short drag on it before he continued.

“I have been on many other teams before this one. I have fought with both the best of the best and the worst of the worst. No matter whichever one your team falls under, I can assure you, with my help you will be far better than you ever were before.” Most of the mercs nodded at each other. They were still a little sceptical but preferred to believe what the Spy had to say. Scout however, wasn’t convinced at all. It seemed little more than a show to him.

“Hey, you could be on any team you want, why’d you wanna come to such a lousy one?”

The Spy was slightly taken aback by the Scout, he looked over him whilst taking another drag from his cigarette. With a smug smirk the Spy retorted.

“Même une étoile comme _moi_ ne peut briller parmi les lumières tamisées, mon ami.” Obviously the rest of the mercs were at a loss for words, none of them having the slightest idea what the Spy had said.

“That, and I like a challenge.” Scout scowled at the Spy as he took one last puff and put out his cigarette on his disguise kit’s case.

“Now then, would anyone care to show me around?”

The team looked around, no one seemed to particularly want to give a tour to their arrogant new team mate. After a minute the Pyro let out a cry, muffled by his gas mask, and raised his hand enthusiastically. Everyone looked at the Spy and expected him to shoot the Pyro down; Spies and Pyros never seemed to get along, even when they were on the same team. In-fact their last Spy had avoided the Pyro as much as possible, even yelling at him on numerous occasions. What happened next surprised everyone, even the Pyro himself.

The Spy chuckled and grinned widely.

“Thank you mon ami, is there anywhere you would care to show me first?” Pyro clapped happily and grabbed the Spy’s hand, guiding him into the base.

“Mss Mrr Sprr!”

Everyone stood around awkwardly, unsure of what they should do next. The Heavy was the first one to speak.

“We have rest of day off. Suggest you all use well, will not have another for a while. Will see you at dinner…” Heavy glanced towards Scout and finished his sentence in a stern tone. “ _on_ time.” He walked into the base and everyone followed before parting ways.

Scout decided to go to his room. He didn’t feel like running into the Spy. He didn’t want to get to know him or have anything to do with him at all. Yes he was obnoxiously arrogant but, in the Scout’s opinion, that was the case with any Spy. That didn’t bother him so much though, no, it was something else. This Spy was weird. Scout had noticed how he had looked at him and, for some reason, Scout couldn’t shake the feeling that he _knew_ this Spy.

_“This guy seems nothing like our old Spy, so, that can’t be it. But then why the hell is he so familiar?”_

**Author's Note:**

> Remarkable = merveilleuse  
> "Même une étoile comme moi ne peut briller parmi les lumières tamisées, mon ami." = Even a star like me can only shine brightly amongst dim lights, my friend. (Wow, that's rude Spy)


End file.
